In response to allegations against him, former chairman John Berrey released the following statement to the media:
(April 20, 2021) – The victors in last July’s Quapaw Nation tribal elections ran a scorched earth campaign of grievances and false accusations that unseated the longtime, historically successful former Chairman John L. Berrey.
The new Quapaw leaders, Chairman Joseph Byrd and Secretary/Treasurer Guy Barker, came to believe their own falsehoods, produced some evidence, and have now taken it outside of the tribe to the general public. They have hired a special prosecutor and filed a criminal complaint in tribal court alleging embezzlement, misappropriation of funds and other charges.
“It’s all made up, and it is strictly political,” Berrey said. “It shouldn’t even be aired out in the general news media like they’re doing. It just hurts the tribal members.
“I’ll prove them wrong in this court trial, and I’m running for the vice chairman seat in July so I can begin to bring our people together again and heal the Quapaw Nation.”
The Nation has historically worked out its differences, political and otherwise, within its own established grievance process, and preferred never to disparage itself or its members to the broader public. Berrey is unsure where this hate comes from with Byrd and Barker.
Berrey made good money like any CEO of a billion-dollar company would make. But his pay was always approved by the Quapaw Business Committee; he couldn’t do anything alone.
“My number one goal now is to allay the fears and anxiety that our tribal members are feeling over all of this nonsense,” he said. “I’ll beat it in court, and I’ll return to the Business Committee for the good of our people.”
The link to the original story can be found here
